Low Carb “Meatza Pizza”

A few slices plated; olive, jalapeno, and mushroom on top. The slices below had the same toppings with addition of pepperoni (bottom left), pulled pork (bottom middle), and tri-tip pastrami (bottom right). All of them were terrific, but pastrami was the best!

In this very tasty and much healthier version of pizza, the crust is made from ground meat. Original “Meatza” low carb pizza recipes use ground beef and/or sausage. We tried it with ground turkey, using our Italian turkey sausage recipe, and the results were outstanding! The crust stays together and the pizza is delicious.

Mix meat and spices together well and pat into an oval disk shape. Time permitting, wrap the meat mixture in saran wrap and refrigerate for an hour or longer.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees for at least 20 minutes; lightly grease a 16” diameter pizza pan with olive oil. Spread turkey mixture on the pan covering it completely; the precooked “crust” will be thin (about ¼”) when you get it spread out, with no gaps or holes.

Seasoned Ground Turkey spread out in a sheet pan. This pan is about twice the surface area of the recommended 16″ pizza pan, so the turkey is spread out quite thin.

Bake at 450 for 7 minutes on an upper rack, and then remove. The meat “crust” will shrink somewhat, to about 60-70% of its original size (keep this in mind when prepping your toppings). Loosen the crust from the bottom of the pan with a large spatula and pour off fat that has accumulated in pan.

Cooked Turkey Crust – because we spread the ground turkey so thin, this one shrank quite a bit.

Leaving crust in pan, apply sauce, then cheese, then toppings.

Sauce and Cheese on. We added some fresh garlic to the sauce. Cheese used was Mozzarella, Gouda, and some Pepper Jack that I cold smoked.

Entire pizza had black and green olives, jalapenos, and mushrooms. Additional toppings on right are pulled pork, homemade pastrami, and pepperoni.

Paula intercepted me before the oven and insisted on Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and Red Pepper flakes on top. OK… now it goes in the oven.

Place back in oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes at 450, or until cheese is melted in the center and toppings are cooked to your preference. Remove from oven and loosen pizza bottom from pan with a large spatula; transfer to a cutting board. Rest for a few minutes before slicing. Enjoy your Low Carb Pizza with no guilt!

Just out of the oven. We always go overboard on toppings, so this one took 15 minutes to cook.

Notes: For ground turkey, we prefer Foster Farms brand. It is available locally at Marval Market as well as most other markets. Be sure to get “Ground turkey”, not “ground turkey breast”. Most markets package it at 20 oz, which this recipe is designed for. Marval carries it in 16 oz., so get two if shopping there. You can make extra breakfast sausage or turkey burgers with the rest.

This recipe makes a pretty thin crust pizza in a 16-inch pan. If you prefer a thicker meatier crust you can make more of the crust recipe or use a 12 inch pan instead. The thicker you make it, the less the crust will shrink when cooked.